Next-gen talent in focus as MLB ID Tour 2024 wraps

This past week, at the Roberto Clemente State Park baseball fields in the Morris Heights neighborhood of the Bronx, Major League Baseball completed the final stop of its 18-city ID Tour. The tour is a league initiative with the aim of identifying talent in the graduating classes of 2027-28 for baseball development programming.

The MLB ID Tour has a specific aim of discovering baseball talent among underexposed and diverse groups of athletes and identifying prospects that may very well be the next stars of the sport.

This year, the tour began Feb. 17 and concluded May 5, kicking off at ​​the MLB Compton Youth Academy in Compton, Calif. More than 1,100 players participated in the tour, with dozens of them expected to receive invitations to future MLB Develops events.

Across the tour, various MLB Youth Academies were utilized as sites for the workouts and events of the day, including facilities in Dallas (Rangers' affiliate), Houston (Astros' affiliate) and Philadelphia (Phillies' affiliate).

Multiple Minor League clubs also partnered with the tour: the Arkansas Travelers, Montgomery Biscuits and Norfolk Tides, to be exact.

Del Matthews, MLB's vice president of baseball development, played a major role in the organization and facilitation of the entire tour, and he spoke to the extent he felt it accomplished its goal of identifying future prospects.

“I definitely think the stops this year helped us identify a lot of young talent,” said Matthews. “We were able to impact over 1,000 kids that we saw from everywhere from California … all the way to Philadelphia and the Bronx.”

The ID Tour represents an opportunity for young baseball players to experience pro-style, Major League workouts, accompanied with all the positive reinforcement and guidance they need to excel as baseball players and elevate all their tools on and off the field.

“Major League Baseball feels they are important, so they're seen and they get a chance to showcase their talent,” Matthews said.

The MLB ID Tour launched as a pilot program in 2018 within select cities, but has expanded each year since. The 2024 edition of the tour represented its second annual full-fledged, cross-country effort to identify the future of baseball.

“We're doing our part to impact the sport, to grow the game, and so to go into these different cities, these different communities and have some interaction and for Major League Baseball to have a presence … it’s extremely impactful,” Matthews said.

Kindu Jones, senior coordinator of baseball development at Major League Baseball, was present for the Bronx ID Tour stop. He stressed to participants the importance of taking every opportunity seriously, as it could lead to the future in baseball they are all dreaming of.

“A lot of these guys want to play, and they want to play at that highest level. So to get them in that mindset … you have to take this as seriously as everything else that you do in life,” Jones said.

An often overlooked but unavoidable fact is that while many players from the West Coast of the United States or warmer-weather regions are able to play and hone their skills year-round, those living on the East Coast or in colder-climate regions are left to find alternative training methods.

“The last stop in the Bronx, a lot of people in the Northeast, we don't get the recognition that we should,” said Colin Raymond, an outfielder in the class of 2028. “Now a lot of people are looking at us in shock. We gotta work harder than everyone else; it’s a blessing.”

A large pillar of the ID Tour is creating a sustainable and inviting system for the cities and players it impacts. This mindset opens the door for potential prospects to return for scouting and development opportunities, even if previous attempts were unsuccessful.

“If I got invited to the Hank [Aaron Invitational], it would be an honor,” said Eddie Flores, a shortstop and New York native in the class of 2027.

“Last year I didn't get invited because I wasn't as good as I am now,” he added. “So I just gotta keep working, getting stronger, bigger. … it would be excellent if I got invited.”

Eligible ID Tour participants are set to receive invitations to upcoming MLB Development programs, including the Hank Aaron Invitational, which takes place at the end of July and beginning of August.

Information about this program and others are available at mlb.com/youth-baseball-softball.